The Turkish Patrol

First version: The original version of The Met’s painting was first exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1831, bearing the title Hadji-Bey, Chief of Police in Smyrna, Making His Rounds (Wallace Collection, London).[1] Both versions are widely known as The Turkish Patrol. The Wallace picture was the first scene of daily life in the Middle East painted by an artist who had been there. In 1828, Decamps traveled to Izmir (as Smyrna has been known since the 1920s) as part of an expedition intended to yield a painting of the Battle of Navarino, fought on October 27, 1827, which was a turning point in the Greek War for Independence from the Ottoman Empire because it resulted in the devastation of the Ottoman naval fleet. In Decamps’s painting, a distant culture often presented to Europeans as violent and cruel assumed an aspect lacking those traits. While Salon visitors inclined to do so could corroborate the painting’s subject with written accounts of Izmir by other travelers, the painting relies on a degree of caricatural distortion that puzzled viewers.

The Turkish Patrol was Decamps’s breakthrough work, with critic Gustave Planche likening its significance to that of Eugène Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People (1830, Musée du Louvre, Paris), the renowned battle scene in which real and allegorical elements were combined to commemorate the July Revolution of 1830.[2] Nearly two decades later, in 1848, Théophile Gautier wrote in reference to The Turkish Patrol that “painting, like poetry, had its Orientales,” thereby situating Decamps’s canvas as the equivalent of Victor Hugo’s 1829 collection of verse as milestones in the widening of imaginative horizons in the arts through their evocations of the Middle East.[3] This development came to be known as Orientalism, a phenomenon in the sphere of European culture that would take on new and less benign dimensions of significance following the French invasion of Algeria in 1830.

Second version: The foregoing account gives some sense of the stature of the first version of The Turkish Patrol, when, in 1855, it was featured in the Exposition Universelle, the first world’s fair to be held in Paris. Decamps was one of only four living artists accorded a retrospective exhibition there, along with Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Horace Vernet, and Delacroix. Despite the total absence of surviving documentation accounting for the origins of the second version of The Turkish Patrol, one may credibly assert that it was produced for a collector who had admired the first version at the fair.[4]

The Met canvas is only one-third the size of the one Decamps had used for the Wallace version, but, in terms of proportion, it is narrower and therefore taller. Accordingly, Decamps adjusted the setting, with consequences for the figures. The patrol consists of ten men in both paintings, but whereas they appear to spill out from the right edge of the picture in the first version, with space to pivot towards the shop on the left, in the second version their advance appears to be somewhat arrested as they reach the picture’s left edge. The primary edifice plays a more muscular role in the later version owing to its projecting balcony, with a carpet draped on its ledge. Gone is the glimpse of verdant, tree-filled space at the upper right corner, which functioned, together with the bright patch of sky above the alley, to provide a sense of lightness to the rather plain facade situated between them. The charming vignette of the women peering at the scene below—three at a terrace and another at a window—has been transformed into a pair of women peering from a single window, deep in shadow at the far right.

The broader brushwork of Decamps’s later style, combined with the reduced size of the second version and alterations to the composition, produce an overall heaviness; that effect has been exacerbated by a progressive darkening of the surface that may have begun shortly after it was finished, which is perhaps why writers described it as a night scene as early as 1880.[5] This has made it difficult to differentiate the skin tones that are an important feature of the figures in the first version, where one sees grouped together in the patrol a blond-mustachioed European man, a dark-skinned man of African origin, and other men depicted with varying fleshtones, together representing the polyglot makeup of the Ottoman Empire. Decamps made multiple changes to the dress of the patrolmen in the second version. In both works they wear garments and accessories first associated with Zeybeks and, later, with Bashi-Bazouks.[6] However, while in the first version one man is depicted with his head shaved save for one area left long at the top, in traditional Turkic fashion, in the second version one man is shown wearing a fez, a sign of modern reform governed by regulations imposed in 1829.

Asher Miller 2023

[1] Oil on canvas, 45 1/16 x 70 ½ in. (114.5 x 179 cm). See John Ingamells, The Wallace Collection, Catalogue of Pictures, II: French Nineteenth Century, London, 1986, pp. 69–70, no. P307.
[2] “Liberty, the Turkish Patrol, are [examples of] beautiful and great painting, pieces which, in less than ten years, will have aged a century, and will find a place alongside the Fall of the Damned by Rubens and the most perfect creations of Rembrandt.” (“La Liberté, la Patrouille turque, sont de la belle et grande peinture, des morceaux qui, avant dix ans, auront vieilli d’un siècle, et se placeront à côté des Enfers de Rubens et des plus parfaites créations de Rembrandt.”) Gustave Planche, Salon de 1831, Paris, 1831, p. 297.
[3] “La peinture avait ses Orientales comme la poésie,” quoted from Théophile Gautier, “Marilhat,” Revue des deux mondes 18, nouvelle série (1848), p. 73.
[4] Leaves de Conches 1861 and Burty 1861.
[5] Strahan 1880.
[6] See Gary Tinterow and Asher Ethan Miller, entry on Jean-Léon Gérôme, Bashi-Bazouk, ca. 1868–69, in Everett Fahy, ed., The Wrightsman Pictures, New York, 2005, pp. 390–92, no. 110.

Inscription: Signed (lower right): DECAMPS.

Wertheimber, Paris (until 1861; his sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, March 9, 1861, no. 4, as "La Patrouille turque," for Fr 25,000 to Goldschmidt or Demidoff); Goldschmidt, Paris or Anatole Demidoff, Paris (from 1861); Bocquet, Paris (in 1869); [Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, until 1870; sold on March 28 for Fr 50,000 to George A. Lucas for Johnston]; John Taylor Johnston, New York (1870–76; his sale, Chickering Hall, New York, December 19, 20, 22, 1876, no. 142, as "The Turkish Patrol, Smyrna," for $8,350 to Wolfe); Catharine Lorillard Wolfe, New York (1876–d. 1887)

New Haven. Yale School of the Fine Arts. "Fifth Annual Exhibition of the Yale School of the Fine Arts," 1874, no. 35 (as "Turkish Patrol, Smyrna," lent by J. T. Johnston).

New York. National Academy of Design and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "New York Centennial Loan Exhibition of Paintings, Selected from the Private Art Galleries," 1876, no. 100 (as "The Turkish Patrol," lent by John Taylor Johnston, Esq.).

Hartford, Conn. Wadsworth Atheneum. "The Romantic Circle: French Romantic Painting, Delacroix and his Contemporaries," October 15–November 30, 1952, no. 36 (as "Night Patrol at Smyrna").

New York. American Federation of Arts. "Romantic Art, 1750–1900," October 1965–October 1966, no. 6 (as "The Night Patrol at Smyrna").

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Art of Imperial Turkey and Its European Echoes," November 17, 1973–March 3, 1974, no catalogue.

Baltimore. Walters Art Gallery. "A Baltimorean in Paris: George A. Lucas, Art Agent, 1860–1909," January 28–March 11, 1979, unnumbered cat. (as "The Night Patrol at Smyrna," fig. 10).

Rochester, N.Y. Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester. "Orientalism: The Near East in French Painting 1800–1880," August 27–October 17, 1982, no. 19.

Neuberger Museum, State University of New York at Purchase. "Orientalism: The Near East in French Painting 1800–1880," November 14–December 23, 1982, no. 19.

Philippe Burty. "Mouvement des arts et de la curiosité: Vente de tableaux modernes." Gazette des beaux-arts 9 (March 15, 1861), p. 370, notes that this picture was purchased for Fr 25,000 at the Wertheimber sale; calls it a repetition of the "Patrouille turque" (Turkish Patrol) shown at the 1831 Salon (Wallace Collection, London); states that it was executed five years ago and compares it unfavorably to the original; quotes from Conches 1861.

Marius Chaumelin. Decamps: Sa vie, son œuvre. Marseilles, 1861, p. 42, mistakenly lists the marquis of Hertford in the provenance, confusing this picture with that in the Wallace collection; states that J. Patterson bought "La Patrouille turque" for Fr 26,230 at the Wertheimber sale [but see provenance and Moreau 1869]; identifies the figure on horseback as the cadji-bey, or chief of police, of Smyrna.

Leaves de Conches [baron Félix Sébastien Feuillet de Conches]. Letter to Edwin Landseer. [1861] [excerpt published in Burty 1861, p. 370], describes this picture.

Ad[olphe]. Moreau. Decamps et son œuvre. Paris, 1869, p. 203, calls it "La Patrouille Turque" and describes it as a "réminiscence" of the painting shown in the 1831 Salon (Wallace Collection); notes that it was bought by M. Goldschmidt at the Wertheimberg [sic] sale and is currently owned by M. Bocquet.

George A. Lucas. Journal entries. March 21, 22, 24, and 28, 1870 [published in Lilian M. C. Randall, ed., "The Diary of George A. Lucas: An American Art Agent in Paris, 1857–1909," Princeton, 1979, vol. 2, pp. 319–20], records his transactions with the Galerie Georges Petit and Johnston over the sale of this painting, which he calls "Patrol," originally requesting Fr 50,000 for the Decamps and eventually selling it to Johnston, together with works by Troyon and Dupre, for Fr 73,000 total on March 28, 1870.

John F. Weir. Letter to J. Alden Weir. June 13, 1874 [published in Dorothy Weir Young, "The Life & Letters of J. Alden Weir," New Haven, 1960, p. 45], states that this painting from the Johnston collection is currently in his studio, among other works to be shown in New Haven 1874; calls it "The Turkish Street Patrol, Smyrna".

Edward Strahan [Earl Shinn], ed. The Art Treasures of America. Philadelphia, [1880], vol. 1, pp. 126, 134, as "The Night-Watch in Smyrna"; calls it "unexcelled for quality among the specimens of Decamps in America"; illustrates (on p. 119) the engraving after the original version (Wallace Collection).

Cicerone. "Private Galleries: Collection of Miss Catharine L. Wolfe." Art Amateur 2 (March 1880), p. 76, as "The Night-Watch at Smyrna".

Charles Clément. Decamps. Paris, [1886], p. 87, calls it "Patrouille turque," noting its inclusion in the Wertheimberg [sic] sale of March 1861 and its subsequent owners as Goldschmidt and Borguet [sic].

"The Wolfe Pictures." New York Times (November 7, 1887), p. 4, as "The Night Patrol at Smyrna".

Mariana Griswold Van Rensselaer. "The Wolfe Collection. News and Notes." Independent 39 (December 1, 1887), p. 7, calls it "Night Patrol at Smyrna" and states that it is either a smaller replica of, or an original study for, the painting in the Wallace Collection; criticizes the execution of the horse, but adds that "in some inexplicable way, [Decamps] has put into him more life and fire, more real 'go' than Meissonier has accomplished in any of the impossibly drawn horses of his 'Friedland' (The Met 87.20.1)".

Mrs. Schuyler van Rensselaer. "Fine Arts: Gifts to the Metropolitan Museum." Independent 39 (April 21, 1887), p. 6, as "The Turkish Patrol".

Montezuma [Montague Marks]. "My Note Book." Art Amateur 16 (May 1887), p. 122, as "The Night Watch at Smyrna".

"Gallery and Studio: The Metropolitan Museum of Art." Art Amateur 18 (December 1887), p. 7, calls it "The Night Patrol, Cairo" and praises its "dash and... beauty of coloring for which the painter is famous".

Clarence Cook. Art and Artists of Our Time. New York, 1888, vol. 1, pp. lxx–lxxi, as "The Turkish Patrol".

Walter Rowlands. "The Miss Wolfe Collection." Art Journal, n.s., (January 1889), p. 13, considers "The Night Patrol at Smyrna" the finest painting in the Wolfe collection.

"Notes for Collectors." Art Amateur 24 (February 1891), p. 60, calls it "The Turkish Patrol" and erroneously asserts that it is the original version of the subject, a replica of which was sold in Paris in 1861.

Sophia Antoinette Walker. "Fine Arts: The Painting Master in the Wolfe Collection." Independent 46 (August 2, 1894), p. 12, as "The Night Patrol".

"The Metropolitan Museum of Art—The French Painters." New York Times (May 22, 1895), p. 4, as "Night Patrol".

William Sharp. "The Art Treasures of America (Concluded.)." Living Age, 7th ser., 1 (December 3, 1898), p. 604, as "Night Patrol at Smyrna".

Pierre du Colombier. Decamps. Paris, 1928, p. 21.

Joseph C. Sloane. French Painting Between the Past and the Present: Artists, Critics, and Traditions, from 1848 to 1870. [reprint 1973]. Princeton, 1951, p. 117 n. 36, expresses uncertainty over whether "La Patrouille turque" exhibited in the 1831 Salon is The Met's or the Wallace Collection's painting.

C. C. Cunningham. The Romantic Circle: French Romantic Painting, Delacroix and his Contemporaries. Exh. cat., Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. Hartford, 1952, pp. 8, 15, no. 36, pl. VIII, calls it "Night Patrol at Smyrna".

Josephine L. Allen and Elizabeth E. Gardner. A Concise Catalogue of the European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1954, p. 28.

Charles Sterling and Margaretta M. Salinger. French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 2, XIX Century. New York, 1966, pp. 32–33, ill., note that "The Night Patrol at Smyrna" is a reduced replica of the Wallace Collection painting, with important differences, especially in the background architecture; surmise that it was painted at the end of the artist's life.

Anne Poulet in "Turquerie." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 26 (January 1968), p. 237, fig. 66.

Dewey F. Mosby. Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps, 1803–1860. PhD diss., Harvard University. New York, 1977, vol. 1, p. 234; vol. 2, pp. 381, 466, 493, no. 203, pl. 106, calls it alternately "Night Patrol at Smyrna" and "The Night Patrol at Smyrna"; dates it about 1854; incorrectly repeats name of former owner from March 9, 1861 sale as Wertheimberg.

Joseph J. Rishel in Richard Ormond. Sir Edwin Landseer. Exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia, 1981, p. 39 n. 59, suggests that Landseer may have been interested in the work of Decamps because of a "rather enigmatic letter" to Landseer from the dealer Leaves de Conches [see Conches 1861].

Donald A. Rosenthal. Orientalism: The Near East in French Painting 1800–1880. Exh. cat., Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester. Rochester, N.Y., 1982, pp. 37, 97, 162, no. 19, fig. 27, dates it about 1854.

John Ingamells. The Wallace Collection: Catalogue of Pictures. Vol. 2, French Nineteenth Century. London, 1986, p. 69, calls it a "close variant [of the Wallace collection picture] with more elaborate architecture".

Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 412, ill.

Klaus H. Kiefer. "Decamps' 'Türkische Patrouille'—Heines Bild vom Orient." Heine-Jahrbuch 35 (1996), pp. 2, 19 nn. 11–12, p. 21 nn. 53–54, 63, fig. 1, dates it 1854.

Rebecca A. Rabinow. "Catharine Lorillard Wolfe: The First Woman Benefactor of the Metropolitan Museum." Apollo 147 (March 1998), pp. 51, 54 n. 24, notes that Wolfe paid $8,350 for this painting at Johnston's sale.

The original version of this painting (Wallace Collection, London) was first exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1831 and lithographed that year for the periodical L'Artiste (vol. 1, sér. 1, 1831, opp. p. 524).

When The Met's painting was sold as part of the Wertheimber collection in 1861, the critic Philippe Burty stated that it was about five years old.